Palace on Nora Aunor: She’s a ‘people’s artist’

MANILA, Philippines — Malacañang yesterday heaped praises on actress Nora Aunor after she was excluded anew from the new batch of National Artists.

Presidential spokesman Salvador Panelo called Aunor a “crowned people’s artist” and expressed optimism that the iconic movie star would be proclaimed National Artist in the future. 

“The artistical and musical legend that is Nora Aunor may not have passed the critical eyes of a select juror and the awarding authority to be bestowed the National Artist award, but her enrapturing film artistry and musicality and mass acceptance surpass technical recognition given by any entity or authority,” Panelo said at a press briefing. 

“She is still young and in God’s perfect time we are optimistic that she will be proclaimed as a National Artist. Her non-inclusion does not diminish her iconic stature as the country’s superstar and her significant contributions to film, theater, television and music industries,” he added. 

Panelo said Aunor’s phenomenal rise to movie and musical stardom counted “a generation of shrieking and adoring fans unparalleled in the movie and music industry.”

In 2014, former president Benigno Aquino III removed Aunor from the list of National Artists because of issues linking her to drug use.

The actress was automatically nominated this year to become National Artist because she was included in the previous shortlist of nominees. 

The President has the prerogative to remove names from the list of nominees submitted by the National Commission for Culture and the Arts and Cultural Center of the Philippines.

Panelo could not say why Aunor was excluded anew from the list.  

In a statement, Aunor thanked her fans for believing in her and clarified that she did not aspire to be named National Artist. 

“The respect I got from my colleagues is enough. If the National Artist award is used to mock my personal struggles in life, I would urge everyone to put an end to this issue. What is the value of an award if it would repeatedly malign me and the people who believe in me?” the actress said. 

Aunor said she would rather do movies that inspire Filipinos and help her colleagues in the entertainment industry than dwell on the issue. 

“I was not the one disrespected and mocked but the Noranians, the people who still trust me and the talents given to me by God,” she said.

Panelo said Aunor’s exclusion would spare her from “emotional and psychological torment” she would go through because of the barrage of mixed reactions the award would bring.